Display bin

ABSTRACT

A self-supporting display bin includes a clear rigid sheet of plastic material which is assembled into a particular form to hold product mainly for retail self-service sales. The shape of the bin is determined by a former which is inserted within a clear plastic envelope to provide the desired shape. In one embodiment of the invention, the bin is in the shape of a tower having an integral product feed aperture arrangement and one or more stress relief holes to permit folding of the tower for material handling purposes.

United States Patent [1 1 Murphy Nov. 26, 1974 1 DISPLAY BIN [76] Inventor: Thomas Vincent Murphy, 362

Grone St., Oradell, NJ. 07649 22 Filed: Oct. 2, 1970 21 Appl.No.:77,455

[52] HS. Cl. 206/44 R, 206/45.34, 248/174,

221/31 1 [51] lint. CI B65d 5/50, B65d 5/72, B65d 25/54 [58] Field of Search 206/44 R, 44.12, 56 AC,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,708,792 4/1929 Huye 248/174 1,962,833 6/1934 Nuckols 248/174 2,275,293 3/1942 Foley 206/45.34 2,675,238 4/1954 Leaf 312/35 3,012,704 12/1961 Stumpf, Jr 229/17 R 3,164,350 1/1965 Taub 206/44 R 3,330,405 7/1967 Taub 206/45.3l

Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Irons, Sears & Spellman [5 7 ABSTRACT A self-supporting display bin includes a clear rigid sheet of plastic material which is assembled into a particular form to hold product mainly for retail selfservice sales. The shape of the bin is determined by a former which is inserted within a clear plastic envelope to provide the desired shape. In one embodiment of the invention, the bin is in the shape of a tower having an integral product feed aperture arrangement and one or more stress relief holes to permit folding of the tower for material handling purposes.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENIE am 2 6 I974 FIG. 8

INVENTOR. M m u mppw FIG.6

DISPLAY BIN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to display arrangements and particularly to display bins for retail selfservice sales.

Conventional display arrangements generally include an outer container portion and a supporting framework. The framework would include a plurality of structural elements which are assembled together to provide a support for the container portion. The use of these supporting elements, however, adds to the material cost and to assembly time. The structure must be assembled in situ due to shipping considerations. Furthermore, the use of structural elements adds to the shipping weight and the use of tall bins results in packaging problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a display arrangement for product sold mainly in retail self-service sales. The display arrangement comprises a clear plastic envelope which may be any one of a plurality of shapes, the envelope assuming the shape of a former which is positioned therewithin. The envelope may be knocked down for packaging and shipped with the former to a customer.

In another embodiment of the invention, the display arrangement is fairly tall and the plastic envelope includes stress relief holes so that the envelope may be doubled over for shipping. The envelope may also include a catch scoop formed integrally with the envelope and serving both as a stress relief point and an aperture for dispensing of product.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved display arrangement for product.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved clear plastic display arrangement for retail self-service sales having unique shipping and packaging advantages.

Other objects and advantages will be more clearly seen when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows the display bin of FIG. 3 in knockeddown form prior to assembly;

FIG. 2 shows the display bin of FIG. 4 in knockeddown form prior to assembly;

FIG. 3 shows a new and improved display bin having a circular cross-section while FIG. 4 illustrates a bin of triangular cross-section and FIG. 5 a bin having a square cross-section;

FIG. 6 illustrates a larger tower-type bin having a catch scoop for product;

FIG. 7 illustrates how the stress-relieved bin of FIG. 6 may be folded for shipment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a display bin with a plurality of feed holes; and,

FIG. 9 illustrates a particular tower having a plurality of catch scoops.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in the drawings, the invention comprises a display arrangement 10 including a clear rigid sheet 1 l of plastic material such as vinyl plastic which may be shaped into a particular form which is self-supporting. The plastic sheet 11 forms an envelope for supporting product and may be round (FIG. 3), oval (not shown), triangular (FIG. 4), square (FIG. 5), or other suitable cross-sectional shape. The envelope may also fonn a configuration such as a cone or pyramid. The plastic envelope is generally constructed from a sheet of vinyl plastic which is heatsealed into a unitary structure.

The shape of the display arrangement or bin 10 is determined by a former 12 which is inserted within envelope and comprises the floor or bottom product level. This floor may be supported, if necessary, by various means such as the empty or full case of the product being displayed. A prime advantage of this display arrangement or bin 10 is the fact that it can be soft folded flat in a knocked-down position for minimum packaging size. FIGS. II and 2 of the drawings represent the bins of FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively in a knocked-down condition. A typical bin height for the above embodiments would be in the range of 30 inches to 36 inches.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 6 is somewhat taller, being in the range of 60 inches to 72 inches, and forming a gravity feed tower 15. The product which may be any suitable item such as soap, paper products, etc. moves downward within the plastic tower 15 to a catch scoop 16 formed about a product feed aperture 17. The scoop 16 comprises a soft rounded plastic portion formed integrally with the tower envelope 18. The function of the scoop 16 is to prevent the product from spilling onto the floor and to provide ready access to the product.

The tower 15 also includes one or more stress relief holes 19 which permit the tower 15 to be soft folded flat and to be double folded to reduce the height within the packing carton as shown in FIG. 7. The catch scoop 16 may serve as one of the points of stress relief and,

furthermore, additional holes may be cut in the plastic tower 15 to reduce the folded height still more.

Other modifications of thebasic invention may include a tower 20 having a plurality of feed holes 21 positioned thereabout with or without catch scoops, see FIG. 8. By the same token a further design may include more than one catch scoop 22 as in FIG. 9 where the tower 23 has a frusto-conical configuration. The material gauges and former design will, in general, be selected depending upon the product displayed therein.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are merely illustrative examples of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A display bin for product comprising:

a unitary plastic envelope to contain the product, said evelope being self-supporting in a vertical plane and capable of assuming various crosssectional shapes, and

a former mounted within the envelope to impart the desired cross-sectional shape to the envelope and to support the product within the envelope, said former being readily removable to facilitate shipping of the bin in an unassembled condition,

wherein the plastic envelope is substantially taller than its width dimension and including stress-relief apertures at predetermined locations in said envelope to permit folding of the envelope for shipping purposes and said apertures being sufficiently large to permit dispensing of product therethrough. 

1. A display bin for product comprising: a unitary plastic envelope to contain the product, said evelope being self-supporting in a vertical plane and capable of assuming various cross-sectional shapes, and a former mounted within the envelope to impart the desired cross-sectional shape to the envelope and to support the product within the envelope, said former being readily removable to facilitate shipping of the bin in an unassembled condition, wherein the plastic envelope is substantially taller than its width dimension and including stress-relief apertures at predetermined locations in said envelope to permit folding of the envelope for shipping purposes and said apertures being sufficiently large to permit dispensing of product therethrough. 